Yum! New species discovered: Galapagos pink land iguana

The human being who arguably has done more than any other to make people aware of the word “species” is Charles Darwin, whose “On the Origin of Species” helped humans conceptualize the organizing principles of evolution.

But Darwin, on his famous visit to the Galapagos Islands, missed at least one animal: The pink land iguana. Just about right now the embargo is lifting on a new study announcing that this particular reptile has now been officially discovered. The team publishing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences is based at the University Tor Vergata in Rome. (Yes, the big Rome, in Italy.) It seems Darwin missed a pretty important species, judging by the summary of the study:

On his visit to the Galápagos Islands in 1835, Darwin failed to explore the Volcan Wolf volcano on the island of Isabela, the only home of the “rosada” iguana, a newly identified species of the land iguana Conolophus. Genetic analysis of the rosada and other species of land iguanas performed by Gabriele Gentile and colleagues show that the rosada iguana originated in the Galápagos more than five million years ago, and diverged from the island’s other iguana populations when the archipelago was still forming. The ancient divergence between the rosada and other land iguanas–prior to the formation of the Volcan Wolf volcano–provides evidence for one of the most ancient diversification events recorded in the Galápagos.

OK, maybe this isn’t, strictly speaking, an environmental story. But at Dateline Earth we’re all about what interests us, and this qualifies. Plus, iguanas live outdoors, ya know. And the summary of the finding ends thusly:

This newly recognized species of iguana may already be endangered and could become extinct, the authors warn.

Hmm. I thought the embargo was for 2 p.m. PST today, but it looks like New Scientist is already out with an article. It notes that while Darwin didn’t find this pink iguana, he was asked about the land iguanas of the Galapagos in general, and he replied:

Hideous animals, but are considered good food.

Update 10:40 a.m. Jan. 6: Lead researcher Gabriele Gentile points out that his reseach team is currently short on funds to continue the work. If you’re interested, get in touch with him at gabriele.gentile@uniroma2.it.